Chainlink's Buybacks Fail to Stem 15% Price Slide Amid Broader Crypto Weakness

Chainlink Labs has continued its on-chain token buyback strategy, adding 43,937 LINK to its reserve on August 26, 2025. This purchase brings the total tokens accumulated by the Chainlink Reserve since its inception in early August to 237,014, valued at approximately $5.5 million at current prices. The Chainlink Reserve operates as an automated mechanism designed to reduce the token’s circulating supply by buying back LINK on a weekly basis, effectively removing it from the market. This strategy is part of Chainlink’s broader effort to stabilize and potentially increase the token’s value over time [1].

Despite these buybacks, the LINK token has experienced a 15% decline from its August 22 peak of $27, trading at $22.4 as of August 26. The price movement has occurred amid a broader decline in the crypto market, with the CoinDesk 20 Index showing little change over the same period. Although the Chainlink Reserve’s continued purchases signal confidence in the token’s long-term fundamentals, market participants have remained cautious, with LINK encountering bearish technical pressure over the past 24 hours [1]. Technical indicators show that the token has formed lower highs and lower lows, indicating a bearish trend amid a period of consolidation in the broader crypto market [1].

Recent developments have highlighted the growing institutional interest in Chainlink, particularly in the United States. Bitwise, a digital asset manager, has filed for a spot-based Chainlink ETF, marking the first such filing in the U.S. for a single-token crypto fund. Additionally, the U.S. government has tapped Chainlink to publish economic data on the blockchain, further expanding the protocol’s utility in real-world use cases. These developments come alongside growing institutional adoption, including a strategic partnership with Japan’s SBI Group, which has over $200 billion in assets. The partnership is expected to advance tokenized assets, cross-border payments, and stablecoin infrastructure in Japan and the wider Asia-Pacific region [1].

The recent Chainlink Reserve purchase follows a previous buyback of 41,105 LINK on August 21, bringing its total holdings to 150,770 tokens. The buyback program has been a key component of Chainlink’s strategy to manage token supply and enhance value for stakeholders. The program’s effectiveness, however, has been partially offset by broader market weakness, as LINK has underperformed in the last week despite outpacing the DeFi category’s average price growth of 16% over the past 30 days [1].

Market analysts suggest that the Chainlink Reserve’s ongoing purchases may support the token’s price floor, but broader market conditions, including macroeconomic factors and regulatory uncertainty, will ultimately dictate its trajectory. While the token has shown resilience compared to other altcoins, with a 8.3% gain in early August, the broader crypto market remains in a consolidation phase. Investors are closely watching key support and resistance levels, with technical support forming around $22.28-$22.32 and resistance around $23.10-$23.16. Whether these levels hold will be a critical factor in determining the short-term direction of the LINK token [1].

Source: [1] LINK Slides 15% From August Peak Even as Chainlink ... (https://finance.yahoo.com/news/slides-15-august-peak-even-152224994.html)